In January, DraftKings signaled their intentions to expand into Europe when they received a Malta Gaming license. On Thursday, DraftKings Germany was born with players able to play a “beta” version of DraftKings. The move allows the company to enter a potentially uptaped market and diversity a customer base which has stagnated to some degree as more as states in the U.S. regulate DFS.

With the launch of DraftKings Germany, DraftKings now serves the United States, Canada, United Kingdom — which launched last year — and Germany

DraftKings Germany Facts

As part of DraftKings European expantion, a new DraftKings office will be opened in Malta. In launching in Germany, DraftKings hopes to attract some of the estimated 4-5 million fantasy sports users in Germany of a population of 80 million.

DraftKings Germany is currently in beta mode, but players are able to register and play the site’s contests.

Players in Germany will have access to all of the sports available in the United States. This includes contests for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA and of course, soccer. DraftKings Germany will share the same player pool for DraftKings, meaning that all DraftKings players could positively benefit. In addition to soccer (or fussball as the Germans call it), the PGA, NBA and even the NFL are the leagues most likely to draw interest from Germany daily fantasy sports players.

What The Malta License Means

In January, the Malta Gaming Authority began offering licenses for a “controlled skill game license” for the first time. According to European Union rules, once a gaming provider is licensed in one member country they are licensed everywhere else in the European Union. This is assuming there are not stricter regulations in a particular country such as France, Italy and Spain.

DraftKings received their Malta license in January. Oulala also received the same license. Two other companies have reportedly received licenses but not received them yet. As many as 20 additional companies may have also applied for skill-based licenses.

The Malta license is a relatively cheap way for operators to gain access to the large European market. The application fee is just €2,300 with a annual license fee of €8,500. This could mean that DraftKings could be launching in additional European countries sooner rather than later, depending on how the brand performs in Germany. DraftKings is meeting with regulators in all European countries to get a get a feel for any local licensing requirements.